


Timer

by sunshineoptimismandangels



Category: Glee, klaine - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-13 21:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7138340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineoptimismandangels/pseuds/sunshineoptimismandangels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has a countdown on their wrist telling them when they'll meet their soulmate. Kurt's timer tells him that he is one of the lucky one who gets to meet his soulmate young.<br/>Until one day his timer stops. Something is wrong with his soulmate, will Kurt lose him before they even have the chance to meet?<br/>Written for a GKM prompt, even though it isn't really kinky at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kurt's Story Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older story of mine that I'm bringing to AO3. Please note that it is unbeta-ed, sorry about that, I'm attempting to clean it up as a bring it over here, but because of my dyslexia I know there will still be typos and such. I promise I'm not just lazy! I try! lol. 
> 
> Anyway...  
> TW: Character death for canon character death. Homophobia and some mention of violence.

It was such a little thing, small and unobtrusive, but it held so much weight and importance. Kurt remembers when his mom first told him what it was for. He had been so young he hardly understood.  
    
"Everyone has someone in the world that they are suppose to love," His mom had explained, "Someone who will love you back no matter what."  
  
"The way you love me?" Kurt had asked, fingers brushing against the timer implanted into his wrist.   
  
"I will always love you no matter what, but this," She said tapping the timer with a finger, "this is someone who will love you the way I love your daddy and he loves me. This number right here?" She said and Kurt stuck out the tip of his tongue as he gazed at the steady light, "It gets littler and littler until it goes away, and that's when you meet..."  
  
"Your soulmate," Kurt finished feeling proud that he knew the answer.   
  
"That's right," His mommy smiled, "the person you are made to be with."  
  
He had been five when his mom explained, and he knew then that it was important.   
  
Sometimes he would lay in bed at night, not able to sleep and he would sing songs to his timer. The kind of songs his mommy sang him to help him fall asleep.   
  
Some of the kids at school said that it was silly to talk or sing to your timer. Your soulmate couldn't hear you, but that never stopped Kurt. He didn't know if his soulmate could hear him or not, but he knew his soulmate could _feel_ him. He knew it before anyone even told him that part of things.

* * *

"I don't feel good," A seven-year-old Kurt said one morning as his parents made breakfast. 

  
"What's wrong bud?" His dad asked.   
  
"I don't know," Kurt whined, "I feel sick." 

His dad came over and placed a hand on his head, "You don't feel warm."  

"Yes I do!" Kurt protested, "I feel hot all over and my throat hurts and and tummy aches." 

They took him to the doctor who said that Kurt was fine, not sick at all.  

Kurt was upset, did the doctor think he was lying?  

"But I  _do_ feel sick," Kurt said near tears.  

"Oh sweetie," His mom said and pulled him into her arms, "We believe you, the doctor is just saying you don't have a virus or anything... Your soulmate might be sick and so you don't feel good either." 

"My... my soulmate?" Kurt asked.  

"Sometimes when your soulmate feels something really strongly you can feel it to," His dad explained.  

"Is my soulmate going to be okay?" Kurt asked wide-eyed and a little scared. He didn't want his soulmate to not feel good.  

"I'm sure they'll be fine," His mom answered with a smile, "their parents are probably taking them to the doctor too." 

Kurt's mom never called his soulmate "him" or "her". Sometimes his dad would slip and say something to indicate his soulmate would be a girl, but he mostly kept with the more neutral pronouns as well. Kurt knew that the other kids in his class all assumed that Kurt's soulmate would be a girl.

"You're  _a boy,_ " One of his classmates stated in the absolute confidence that children have, "So your soulmate will be a girl. Silly." 

But Kurt wasn't sure, and his parents didn't seem to be either. But he wasn't worried about it. Whoever they were, they would love him no matter what.  

* * *

  
It wasn't until Kurt was eight-years-old that he learned something else about your soulmate timer. They could stop before you met your soulmate.  

His mom and dad both had blank timers on their wrist. Kurt knew they had counted down until the moment his mommy and dad had met. But when his mom passed away he would lay in bed at night, crying and holding onto his wrist with all of his strength.  

Nothing seemed definite anymore. Nothing certain. He had always known that he would meet his soulmate someday, just like he knew that his mom and dad would always be there for him. But now his mom was gone.  

He climbed into bed with his dad one night and felt his strong arms wrap around his little frame. "I miss mommy," He said through tears, and could feel his dad's body tense.  

After a long moment his dad spoke, tears in his own voice, "I miss her too." 

"I don' want to lose anyone else. Not you or... or my soulmate or anyone," Kurt hadn't met his soulmate yet, according to his timer he still had around 3,000 days left, but he felt like his soulmate was a part of him and the fear of losing someone else was too much. "People don't ever lose their soulmates before they even meet them do they?" 

His dad let out a soft sigh and then answered, "Yes, sometimes."  

Kurt scooted back and looked his dad in the face. He looked tired and sad.  

"No! The timer!"  

"Sometimes bad things happen and they can make your timer go blank before you met your soulmate, when that happens it means... it means they died." 

" _No_ ," Kurt repeated and started to cry.  

His dad pulled him close, his big hand rubbing back and forth across his back, "Hey buddy, don't worry. Your soulmate is fine, you're going to met them. It's okay." 

"I... I don't want to lose anyone else."  

"You won't," His dad said with so much determination that Kurt had to believe him.  

* * *

  
Kurt came out to his dad when he was 13. It was an accident. They were on the couch watching  _High School Musical_  when Kurt let it slip by mistake.  

"I wonder if my soulmate likes musicals," Kurt said as he ran a finger over his timer. "I hope he does."  
  
Then he froze.  
  
"I mean... I mean they. My soulmate. Her... or whatever..." 

He looked up at his dad with his heart in his throat.  
  
His dad just chuckled, "I'm sure if he doesn't like musicals you can change his mind." His dad smiled, and that was that. From that day on they both said "him" instead of "them".  
  
Having a soulmate that was your same gender wasn't unheard of, but it was still looked down on in some more conservative areas. Lima, Ohio being among them. But Kurt held his head high, even though the teasing grew as he did.  

People made fun of him for being gay, told him that his soulmate wasn't a real soulmate if it was another boy, that his timer was just counting down to an abomination.  

The words hurt, but Kurt didn't let them get him down.

Somewhere out there was a boy who was going to love Kurt unconditionally, a boy who was _made_ to love Kurt.  

Kurt would rub his thumb over his timer or hold it close to his heart and ignore the hateful things people said. They didn't matter anyway, not when Kurt already loved his soulmate so much. 


	2. Kurt's Story Part 2

In High School things got harder for Kurt.  
  
The bulling had gotten worse. Lima wasn't big and once Kurt started at McKinley High everyone already knew he was gay. Even if he hadn't been out already, he felt they would have known just by looking at him. He wasn't someone made to blend in.  
  
The jocks seemed to target him specifically, calling him names, shoving him into lockers and throwing ice cold slushies in his face whenever they got the chance.  
  
Kurt hated it. It was painful, both physically and emotionally, but he kept strong, he wasn't going to let anyone get him down. Especially when he had _just under 750 days left_ until he met his soulmate! He held onto the fact that he was one of the lucky ones who was going to met their soulmate young. He could take anything if he knew there was someone out there that loved him.

* * *

In his Sophomore year things got a little better. Kurt saw the sign-up for Glee club and knew he wanted to join.  
  
Singing always made him feel better, more connected. Being in a group of people who loved music as much as he did _had_ to be a good thing.  
  
New Directions ended up being a roller-coaster of drama and song, but it was good. Kurt loved it, he finally had friends. The bullying didn't stop, but Kurt was better equipped to handle it now.  
  
"Hey freak!" Kurt turned his head from his locker to see one of the big football players standing behind him.  
  
"What do you want Azimo?" Kurt asked with a sigh. He didn't have a slushie in his hand, so that was good.  
  
"I was talking to the boys and guess what we figured out?"  
  
Kurt sighed before he straightened his back and looked his tormentor in the eyes, "Oh please, enlighten me," He said sarcastically.  
  
"We figured out your timer must be a fake. No way you have a soulmate. For one, someone gay can't have a real soulmate. And B..." He said leaning in close as he pushed Kurt up against the locker.  
  
Kurt winced in pain.  
  
"Who could possibly love you?" Azimo finished with a snarl.  
  
Kurt sucked in a breath as Azimo grabbed his wrist, "I bet this just peels right off doesn't it?" He laughed as he started scrapping his fingers against Kurt's timer, the numbers reading 361.  
  
"Stop!" Kurt shouted, fear coursing through him. Not his timer. They could say and do what they wanted to him, but they couldn't take that. "STOP!" Kurt yelled again as Azimo kept his wrist locked in a stony grip.  
  
"Hey, what's going on here?" Azimo and Kurt looked to see Mercedes and Tina standing nearby.  
  
"L-leave him a-a-alone!" Tina stuttered, her face flushing in anger.  
  
Mercedes walked up and poked a finger at Azimo's chest, "We aren't going to have a problem here, are we?"  
  
Azimo rolled his eyes and then raised his hands in surrender. "Whatever," he started to back away, but turned to looked back at Kurt, "If it  _is_  real, can you imagine how disappointed your soulmate is going to be when they met  _you?_ "  
  
Kurt held his wrist tight against his chest, hugging it with his other arm. His heart was pounding and his eyes were filling with tears, but he wouldn't cry, he wouldn't let Azimo win.  
  
"Oh K-kurt!" Tina said.  
  
"I'm fine," Kurt answered pushing off of the locker bank. "Nothing he says matters, nothing anyone says changes the fact that my soulmate is waiting for me. That I get to met him in just under a year from now."  
  
Mercedes smiled as she linked arms with him, "That's my boy! Never let them get you down, they aren't worth it."  
  
Kurt smiled weakly and followed the girls to lunch.  
  
For the rest of the week though, Kurt carried his wrist carefully, glancing at it often and brushing his fingers against his timer protectively. He was already so in love with this soulmate even though they hadn't even met, and his timer was their only connection.  
  
In bed at night he'd whisper to his timer, "I hope you're okay. That people don't bully you like this. I can't wait to meet you." He pressed warm lips against his timer, even though he knew it was silly. He would even sing sometimes like he did as a child.  
  
A little under a year, that's all he had left, he could hold on that long.  
  
The time couldn't move fast enough.

* * *

Kurt was 16 when his world came crashing down around him for the second time. Losing his mother when he was just a child had shaken him to his very core and changed the person he'd become. You'd think that fate had dealt him enough blows, but it seemed that wasn't the case.  
  
It had been a few weeks since Azimo had tried to rip his timer out of his wrist and Kurt was still very protective of it.  
  
He was sitting on the couch with his dad, a football game playing in the background. Kurt wasn't paying much attention to the game, instead he was flipping through a magazine and enjoying the quite evening in. Every once in a while unconsciously rubbing a thumb over his timer.  
  
Kurt's heart started pounding to heavy in his chest, beating so fast it hurt and thudded in his ears like a drum. He sat up letting the magazine fall to the floor, his breath growing short as panic started to over take him.  
  
He clutched a hand to his chest and tried to count his breaths. Was he having a heart attack? Is this what a heart attack felt like? Then he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, like it had been slammed against something hard. He let out a cry of distress as he stood from the couch and then fell to his knees on the floor.  
  
"Kurt!" His dad shouted getting up to kneel beside him, "What's wrong, are you okay?"  
  
Kurt tried to catch his breath and answer, but instead he doubled over as he felt a punch to his gut. "Oh god!" Kurt managed to cry out before he fell to his side, his whole body assaulted with pain and fear.  
  
"Kurt!" His dad sounded frantic and he could feel his father's hands hovering over him, trying to discern what was wrong.  
  
Kurt kept crying out as pain blossomed through his abdomen and his shoulder, across his cheek... He curled up in a ball on the floor sobbing and shouting as the assault continued.  
  
"D-dad!" He called in fear, he didn't understand what was happening to him. This wasn't a heart attack, it felt like he was getting the shit beat out of him.  
  
_Oh god._  
__  
Finally it clicked. Kurt was safe. He was at home with his dad and no one was here to hurt him. So if Kurt was safe that meant his soulmate...  
  
"No! No!" Kurt shouted, still protectively curled up as the painful sensations continued, "Leave him alone! Please.  _Please_. L-leave him a-alone!"  
  
Tears streamed down Kurt's face as his dad gathered him up in his arms. He held him tightly and Kurt could hear his dad's breath hitch, he was crying too.  
  
Burt must have come to the same realization Kurt had because he started rocking him back and forth repeating, "He'll be okay. It will be okay. He'll be okay."  
  
It didn't feel like he'd be okay though. It felt like his soulmate was having his bones broken and his skin bruised. Kurt could almost taste blood in his mouth.  
  
It felt like it would never end, but finally it did. Kurt's body still drummed with pain, but it was fading now. Whatever had happened to his soulmate must be ending. Kurt stayed tucked against his father's chest, crying and shivering.  
  
"I... I need to find him," Kurt sucked in a long painful breath, "What if he is alone, or needs help. What if... what if he needs me?" Kurt asked, his voice cracking with emotion, "I have to find him."  
  
"Kurt," Burt said wiping tears from his son's eyes. "It doesn't work that way you still have..." Burt gently lifted Kurt's wrist and looked down to see how many days were left. But then he froze his face turning sheet white and his grip on Kurt's wrist tightening.  
  
"What?" Kurt said, pounding heart still in his throat, "What's wrong?" Kurt glanced down to his wrist expecting to see the number 340 on his timer. Kurt's heart skidded in his chest and suddenly he felt light-headed as pure, vein chilling fear filled him.  
  
Kurt blinked, knowing there had to be some mistake.  
  
His timer read 000.


	3. Kurt's Story Part 3

Kurt stared at the 000 with his heart in his throat. This couldn't be real. He was so young and hadn't even had a chance to met his soulmate yet. He couldn't lose him now.   
  
He sprang to his feet and stumbled backwards a little, clutching at his wrist as the numbers glared back at him. The zeros only stayed for a moment before the timer faded to black.  
  
"No!" Kurt yelled, crazed with worry and fear. " _No!_ " He griped his wrist so tight he could feel his pulse beating too fast under his skin.  
  
"Kurt," Burt rose to his feet, Kurt glanced up for a second to see his dad's drawn face and red rimmed eyes.  
  
"No!" Kurt repeated shaking his head and not able to form any other word. He looked back down at his blank timer. He knew what this meant, but he was unwilling to believe it.  "Come back! Come back!" Tears clogged his throat and made it hard to breathe.  
  
Frenzy built up inside of him and he knew he was shaking, he felt like he might just shake apart into a million pieces.  
  
Then, his timer lit up again, 000 for a moment until the beautiful number 340 reappeared.  
  
"Oh my god," Kurt covered his mouth with his hand as a sob escaped his lips. He couldn't tear his eyes away from his timer and the number that meant his soulmate was still alive, the number that meant Kurt's own future wan't gone.   
  
His euphoria lasted only a moment though.  
  
The numbers flickered and then the whole thing went black again.  
  
Kurt's knees gave out under him and only his dad's sure arms reaching out to steady him allowed him to slump down on the couch.  
  
"Stop it!" Kurt yelled at his timer. He didn't understand what's happening. He looked up at his dad with tear blurred eyes.  
  
"Kurt..." Burt started, looking down at the timer.  
  
"What's happening!" Kurt shouted angrily, his fear making his words come out harsh.  
  
"I don't know son..." Burt stopped as Kurt's timer flickered again and then the number 340 blinked back on.  
  
Kurt tensed, afraid the timer would go out again. He brushed the numbers with his thumb. "Stay with me," he whispered struggling to understand what was happening. A blank timer before it had a chance to count down all the way meant his soulmate was... was dead, but Kurt didn't know what this blinking in and out timer could mean. It couldn't be good.  
  
"His heart must be-" Burt met Kurt's eyes and cleared his throat, "his heart must be starting and stopping."  
  
Kurt sucked in a painful breath. "No," Kurt said still shaking his head, "what do we do?"  
  
Burt sighed, "I don't know. We just have to wait."  
  
Kurt bit his lip and looked at his wrist. The numbers started to flicker. "Don't. Don't do that!" Kurt begged, his body shaking and his heart clenching, but he couldn't make it stop, the timer went blank again.  
  
Kurt sat on the couch silently, barely even blinking, holding his breath. The timer stayed dark. Kurt started holding his wrist so tight that his nails dug into his skin . How much time has passed since the timer went blank this time? Seconds? Minutes? Should Kurt have been counting?  
  
"Don't you  _dare_!" Kurt yelled suddenly at the blank screen, his icy blood thawing out as anger started to flow among the fear. "You can't do this. You can't leave me. Don't you dare!"  
  
"Son," Burt's hands wrapped around Kurt's grip, releasing it a little before Kurt's nails could do anymore damage to his skin. "I'm so sorry," Burt's voice broke, sounding defeated and something inside of Kurt snapped.  
  
" _No,_ " He stood up and backed away from his dad continuing to move away until his back was pressed up against the wall on the other side of the room. "No Dad, no!"  
  
His dad was openly crying now, Kurt hadn't seen him this way since his mom's funeral.  
  
His dad had given up. He thought Kurt's soulmate was dead.  
  
Kurt looked back down at the blank timer closing his eyes and breathing.  _I need you,_ he thought and then opened his eyes and said it out loud, talking to his timer as if it was his soulmate right there with him, "I  _need_  you. Come back. Please come back."  
  
The timer flickered but stayed blank.  
  
"We get to meet soon. So soon. I've been waiting my whole life for you. Please, don't give up. Please."  
  
It flickered again, but still no numbers.  
  
"You listen to me!" Kurt choked out, voice determined even though it was scratchy with tears. "You are _not_ going to die! You are not allowed to leave me. I need you and you need me!"  
  
The timer flickered and Kurt brought his lips down to his wrist planting a gentle kiss on the timer. "I love you," Kurt whispered softly though his tears. "Please come back to me."  
  
The timer flickered and the numbers 000 stared Kurt in the face for a moment and Kurt couldn't breathe. Then the 340 finally, _finally_ reappeared. Kurt slumped against the wall in relief, his limbs shaking. He sat huddled on floor breathing raggedly.  
  
"Stay with me. Stay with me." Kurt couldn't stop looking at the timer on his wrist.  
  
At some point Burt wrapped an arm around his shoulders and brought him back to the couch. Kurt sat next to his dad, tucked into his side, his eyes still on his timer. The number still read 340.  
  
Burt had turned the TV off at some point and they sat in silence.   
  
Burt watched his son.   
  
Kurt watched his timer.  
  
"Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me," Kurt kept repeating like a chant or a prayer. Like his words alone would keep his soulmate alive. Kurt didn't know how long they sat like that together on the couch, but eventually the 340 counted down to 339.  
  
Kurt didn't mean too, but his eyes started to flutter close. He leaned his head against his dad's shoulder, bringing his wrist up to his chest cradling it over his heart. The exhaustion from all the fear, pain and panic of the evening taking its toll.  
  
"Stay with me," Kurt whispered one more time before he drifted to sleep.  
  
Kurt woke up slowly. Body heavy and mind fuzzy. He was on the couch, a thick blanket thrown over him. He could smell coffee and fried eggs in the air and he yawned as he started to sit up.  
  
The events of the previous night hit him like a freight train. He let out a yelp and looked down at his wrist.  
  
339  
  
He still had 339 days until he meets his soulmate. His soulmate who was alive and well.  
  
Kurt shuttered thinking about the pain he went through last night and the stopping and starting timer. His soulmate may not be _well_ after all, but he was at least _alive_. Kurt sighed and closed his eyes again.  
  
339 days seems like such a long time, but at least his soulmate was still out there somewhere. Kurt held his timer to his heart and promised that he'd see him soon. 


	4. Kurt's Story Part 4

Kurt didn't recover from almost losing his soulmate easily, he could still remember the pain and fear too acutely, he developed a bad habit of checking the numbers on his timer obsessively, not just out of anticipation, but because he felt like he if wasn’t checking them continually maybe they would disappear. Every time he glanced down at his wrist and the numbers were bright and strong and he’d be able to breathe a little easier.  
  
In the days and weeks that followed his soulmates... _attack_ for a lack of a better explanation, Kurt was hit with phantom pains from time to time. Throbbing headaches, and and bright pain in his side, soreness in his jaw. He knew his soulmate must be recovering from whatever he'd gone through and this aftermath was to be expected, still every time the pain would hit he'd grab for his wrist, heart pounding in his ears until he saw the number confirming his soulmate was alive. It was torture. But what was worse was knowing his soulmate was going through all of this and not being able to be by his side.    
  
Kurt started to sing to his timer every night. Part of him knew that talking to his timer couldn't have been what saved his soulmate's life, but still maybe just  _maybe_  his soulmate could feel Kurt pulling for him. And if his soulmate was recovering as Kurt suspected, he just wanted to be able to comfort him somehow.   
  
Kurt curled up on his side under his covers and held his timer close. He closed his eyes as a dull ache started to throb in his temples, he knew it was pain from his soulmate. He sighed and started a song,  _"Blackbird singing in the dead of night,"_  Kurt sang to his soulmate, wherever he was.  _"Take these broken wings and learn to fly,”_ his voice hitched a little, _“All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

* * *

Kurt's Junior year of High School started off normal enough. He was still in Glee club. Still getting bullied. Still singing to his soulmate, if not every night, most nights. Especially the nights when Kurt had gone through a particularly hard day himself. Kurt could admit that he did it as much for his own comfort as for his soulmate.   
  
"Maybe someday you'll sing to me," Kurt said to his timer one evening in bed, "Even if you can't carry a tune at all, I won't mind. Well, I might mind. But I could teach you to sing."   
  
Once the days on his timer  _finally_  got down to double digits his soulmate was really the only thing Kurt could think about. He knew that his friends must be getting tired of him talking about him all the time, or starring longingly at his timer, but he couldn't make himself care.   
  
"Gross Hummel. Are you going to make out with that thing?" Santana asked at Glee club one day when Kurt was caught looking at his timer and day-dreaming about his soulmate. He would never admit it to Santana, but he knew he probably looked a little ridiculous.  
  
"You're one to talk," He shot back as Brittany walked up and sat in Santana's lap and the girls started making out. Both Brittany and Santana's timers had been blank since Kurt met them. Apparently they counted down and started beeping at recess when the girls were 10.   
  
Kurt knew that as much as he had a one track mind these days, he couldn't possibly be as annoying as the two matched couples in Glee club. Other than Santana and Brittany there were and Rachel and Finn. They went on and  _on_  about the joys of being with your one true love, they were far too handsy in public, and loved to steal all the duets to sing overly sappy love songs to each other.  
  
Secretly Kurt was happy for the matched couples though, he couldn’t wait to be one himself.  
  
Everything in Kurt’s life was going fairly well, bullying excluded, when tragedy struck again. Kurt was sitting in French class one afternoon, not paying much attention, he was acing this class, when something big enough happened to make him stop thinking about his soulmate.   
  
He was looking down and tracing the number 36 on his wrist when Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury walked into the class. As soon as Kurt looked up he knew something was wrong just looking at their solemn faces made his blood run cold.   
  
"Kurt. Could we talk to you outside?"  
  
Kurt’s heart thudded almost as painfully as it had the night his soulmate had been hurt.  

* * *

The doctor said his dad had a heart attack brought on by an arrhythmia. Kurt didn't really understand or hear the rest. All he knew was that his dad was in a coma, and he might not wake up.   
  
"Please dad, just squeeze my hand," all thoughts of his soulmate fled Kurt's mind as his dad laid motionless on the hospital bed. "I'm right here, just squeeze my hand," Burt didn't move.   
  
Glee club tried to be there for him, but mostly Kurt just felt preached too. Carole, his dad's girlfriend, was there for him as well, looking out for Kurt while his dad was in the hospital. But Kurt didn't want Carole. He wanted his father. Kurt would curl up in a chair by his dad's bed and hold his hand, his heart aching and his mind numb.

He felt so alone.   
  
Sometimes the feeling of loneliness would ease when he was asleep. Kurt would dream of warm, strong arms holding and comforting him, golden hazel eyes looking at him with love and compassion, and he almost thought he heard a rich tenor vice singing to him at times.   
  
Then he would wake up, and all he could think about was his dad and the steady beeping of the heart monitor near his bed. Kurt glanced down at his wrist. 31 days left.   
  
"I could really use you now," he said to his soulmate. "I could really use you too," Kurt said looking up at his dad. He didn't want to meet his soulmate and not have his father to celebrate with.   
  
When Burt finally woke up Kurt felt like an all-encompassing weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He would hardly leave his dad's side and became dogmatic about his dad eating healthy and taking it easy. In the span of a year Kurt had almost lost the two people most important to him. He wasn't going to take any chances.

* * *

It was a little under a week before Kurt was going to meet his soulmate and all he wanted was just to be happy and excited about the future, but it was hard.  
  
Things were awkward with the Glee club after his dad's heart attack. Only Mercedes had really been there for him through his dad's coma, and he still didn't really see eye-to-eye with her.   
  
On top of it all, Mr. Schue was having another boys vs. girls tournament. Kurt was stuck with the boys _again_ and they only wanted to talk about classic rock and drum solos. Plus, the bulling was getting worse, one of the jocks, Karofsky, was relentless in his attacks on Kurt. It seemed like the closer Kurt got to meeting his soulmate the more Karofsky _hated_ him.  
  
Every time he got in a fight with a Glee club member or Mr. Schue, or a jock would locker check him Kurt would hold his timer and remind himself of how close he was to meeting his soulmate.   
  
"Only 8 days left."   
  
It became a ritual.   
  
"Only 7 days left."   
  
"You can do this Kurt! Only 5 days left."   
  
"Only 3 days left!"   
  
Once his timer got down to a few days the numbers changed from days to hours. Kurt was an anxious, excited mess watching the minutes tick down.  
  
The morning of the day Kurt was going to meet  _him_  he was dizzy with excitement. He rushed around the house gathering things for Glee club and getting ready for the day. He made sure he looked amazing and his bedroom floor was littered with discarded outfits that were, "just not right".   
  
"Whoa!" His dad chuckled as Kurt ran around the kitchen making coffee and eating his breakfast on the go. "Slow down kiddo."   
  
"Dad!' Kurt said spinning on his heel to face him. " _Today_. Do you know what today is?”  
  
Burt took a long sip from his coffee mug, “Can’t say that I do.”  
  
Kurt was about to fly off the handle until he saw Burt’s smirk, he knew exactly what today was.  
  
“I meet him today,” Kurt declared his heart in his throat, “After waiting all this time and almost..." Kurt closed his eyes at the painful memory, "Almost _losing_ him last year. Today we finally get to meet!"   
  
"I could come up to school around that time if you want," His dad suggested.   
  
"No dad," Kurt smiled. "I don't think meeting my soulmate with you awkwardly hanging around my shoulder sounds ideal."   
  
"Who said I'd be awkward?"   
  
Kurt gave his dad a look, who in return just chuckled. "Okay, okay. I get it. Just remember Kurt. You matter. This soulmate of yours, you are meant to be with him, but you don't even know each other yet. Don't throw yourself around like you don't matter."   
  
" _Dad_ ," Kurt cheeks colored, knowing exactly what his dad was implying.   
  
"I'm just saying..."   
  
"I know! Besides, according to my timer I'll still be in school when... when  _it happens_. I doubt we'll be jumping each other’s bones in the hallways of McKinley."   
  
Kurt felt vindicated when his dad choked on his coffee a little.   
  
At school Kurt had to throw himself into planning for the girls vs. boys challenge just to keep himself functioning and not constantly thinking about his soulmate. As it turned out Glee ended up being a huge distraction and frustration.   
  
None of the guys liked the ideas he’d spent hours on. In fact they hadn’t even listened to them.    
  
"Go see the Garglers," Puck suggested after the guys tore down Kurt's well thought out plans.   
  
"The _Warblers_ ," Kurt corrected.   
  
"Whatever. Go see what they're up to. You can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in."   
  
Kurt felt his blood boil, and none of the other guys stood up for him. Once again he realized that he didn't feel like he belonged here. No one was on his side. No one even noticed how bad the bullying had become. He was alone even surrounded by his friends.  
  
"Fine," he said, without the energy to fight anymore. He was so upset that when he stormed out to his car and went home to slip in to a disguise to go infiltrate the Dalton Academy Warblers that he wasn't even thinking about how  _today_  was the day he'd meet his soulmate.   
  
It wasn't until he drove up Dalton, a big brick building covered in ivy, that his heart started palpitating in his chest. He looked down and his hands were shaking. He thought he might be sick. Why was he so nervous? Then he glanced at his wrist.   
  
Kurt gulped. He had only minutes before he would meet him,  _his soulmate_.   
  
It all made since now. He didn't understand how he was meant to meet his soulmate at _McKinley_ anyway, but had accepted it for what it was. Now as he looked out his windshield at Dalton he understood. His soulmate wasn't coming to him, he was going to his soulmate.   
  
Kurt swallowed and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He realized it wasn't just  _his_  anxiety he was feeling, his soulmate was so nervous Kurt could hardly sit still.   
  
This was it.  
  
"Oh my god," Kurt groaned, his nerves getting the best of him, he felt frozen to his seat. "Oh my god, oh _my_ _god_."   
  
He finally had to count to three and force himself to move. He checked his hair in the mirror to make sure it was perfect, took in a deep shuttering breath and got out of the car.   
  
The halls of Dalton were packed and noisy. Young men in starched navy uniforms flooded the school, laughing and talking. Kurt started to just move in the direction everyone else seemed to be going. His soulmate was here, somewhere, but Kurt had no idea where to go. Following the crowd seem as good of an idea as any.   
  
He started down a sleek curving staircase and forced himself not to look at his timer. It would happen when it happened.   
  
No, never mind. He couldn't help it. Kurt glanced down at his timer. He was merely moments away from meeting his soulmate.   
  
"This is it," he whispered to himself.   
  
He stood on the staircase as boy after boy ran past him, anyone of these could be his soulmate, how was he meant to know? He always heard that there was a moment when you met your soulmate that something inside you would just _click_ , but what if that didn’t happen? What if Kurt’s timer went off in a sea of young men any of whom could be _the one_?  
  
Kurt chided himself, of course he would know who it was, it wouldn’t just be _his_ timer that went off.  
  
A tall smiling dark skinned boy passed him on the stairs and then a blond guy in a red vest, was it one of them?  
  
Then a dark haired young man hurried past him and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Kurt could only see part of the boy's profile, but he looked distracted and more than a little nervous, as he worried his bottom lip and looked around with anxious eyes.   
  
Kurt's heart fluttered in his chest.   
  
It was him. It was _him_.   
  
Kurt knew it, he could feel it all the way down to his bones. He took a deep breath as the last few seconds on his timer ticked down. He walked up behind the boy and tapped him on the shoulder.   
  
"Excuse me, can I ask you a question? I'm new here," Kurt said, his heart beating against his rib cage.   
  
He watched the boy's profile as he closed his eyes and a smile formed on his lips. Then he slowly turned around, opening bright golden hazel eyes that sparkled as he smiled up at Kurt.   
  
He was breathtaking. For a moment Kurt _actually couldn’t breathe._  
  
They both blinked at each other and Kurt couldn't find his voice, but his whole body felt warm and happy and his heart felt like it was expanding. There was tug in his chest that made him lean forward.  
  
" _My name is Blaine_ ," the boy managed to say in a hushed, awed sounding voice. He held out his hand.   
  
Kurt looked at it for a moment feeling light headed and giddy.   
  
" _Kurt_ ," he answered and took the boy's hand.   
  
Electricity sparked under Kurt's skin and for the first time in his life he felt complete, like a puzzle piece fitting just right.   
  
Two timers started to beep.

 


	5. Blaine's Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. Just wanted to give you a little information before we went into this chapter. When I originally started this story it was a fill, someone asked for a soulmate situation where Kurt knew his soulmate had been hurt when Blaine was at the Sadie Hawkins dance. So that is what I wrote, and my intention was for this fic to end on the previous chapter when Kurt and Blaine's timers went off.  
> With that being said, there was interest in hearing Blaine's side of the story, so I had to write it. ;) So from this chapter on everything in this verse is just extra. :D  
> Hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> TW: Mentions of violence

Blaine had always loved the idea of having a soulmate. When he was very young and his parents first explained the concept his sat quiet and listened as a huge grin grew on his face.  
  
Somewhere out there was a boy made just for him to love. A boy he was meant to be with. A boy who would want him in return. He was instantly in love with the idea.  
  
Except for one thing.  
  
He had to wait until he was _sixteen_ to meet his soulmate? That was  _forever_.  
  
“How do I get to meet my soulmate sooner?” Blaine asked his father who just chuckled and messed Blaine’s hair. That wasn’t helpful. Blaine flattened his hair down again and went to ask his mother.  
  
“Oh sweetie, you are one of the lucky ones, you get to meet your soulmate so young. Just be patient, she’ll be here before you know it.”  
  
Blaine found that answer equally unsatisfactory so he went to his older brother Cooper. “I want to meet my soulmate _now_ ,” Blaine stated.  
  
Cooper laughed, “Too bad.”  
  
“But there has to be a way!”

Cooper narrowed his eyes and then walked towards his little brother lifting up Blaine’s wrist, “What does that number say?”  
  
“Um… four thousand and fifteen?”  
  
Cooper nodded and then held out his own wrist, “And what does my number say?”  
  
Blaine stuck out the tip of his tongue and though for a moment, big numbers were still sometimes hard to read, “Eight thousand… and ninety five?”  
  
“Yup. That means after you met your soulmate I still have to wait _twelve_ years to meet mine. So stop complaining.”  
  
“Oh,” Blaine answered in a small voice and didn’t bring it up again. He could wait. If he _had_ too.

* * *

Blaine took to the idea that his soulmate could hear him through their timers, if he had to wait to meet him at least he could still talk to him. He would talk and play with him even though he wasn't around. His parents would smile and let him do it. It wasn't really any different than a child having an imaginary friend was it?  
  
Blaine never even thought twice about the fact that his soulmate would be a boy not a girl. He just assumed everyone knew that. He'd talk to his soulmate and call him different names like "Mark" or "Andrew". His dad once asked why he didn't try a "Mary" or an "Anne".  
  
Blaine just scrunched up his little nose, "but those are  _girl_  names." His dad looked at him very seriously, but didn't respond.   
  
When he was little the kids at school didn't care that he had an imaginary friend whose name changed almost weekly. No one made a big deal about it being a boy, but maybe that was because he was little? Or because they didn't understand that he was talking about his soulmate?  
  
Things got harder as he got older, some people would tell him it was wrong to pretend his soulmate was a boy, but he would just shrug it off. He knew better.  
  
“How do you _know_ it is a boy though?” Cooper asked him once when Blaine was eleven and Cooper was home visiting from college. “I mean I don’t care if he is, but how do you _know_? Wouldn’t it be easy for you if your soulmate was female?”  
  
Blaine almost laughed the question off, but Cooper seemed to honestly want to know. He wasn’t trying to change Blaine’s opinion on the matter like their parents often did. “Cooper aren’t you excited about meeting your soulmate one day?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And you’ll love them no matter what?”  
  
“Of course I’ll love her. She’s my soulmate.”  
  
“Uh huh, and how do you _know_ it is a girl?”  
  
“I… _oh,_ ” Cooper had smiled broadly and slapped Blaine on the back, “You’re smart for a little squirt.”  
  
Blaine rolled his eyes. That night in bed he whispered to his timer, “At least I think Cooper will be on our side.”  
  
He knew he was too old to still be talking to his timer, to his “imaginary friend”, but he didn’t care.

* * *

Latter in Blaine life he would make a mental list of the three times that before he met his soulmate that he knew he was much, much more than just an imaginary friend.

The first time was when Blaine was only seven years old. He had always been a happy energetic child and one day he just started to feel... sad. He didn't even really understand it and thought he was just getting sick, like the time last year that he had gotten a really, really bad flu and fever and had to go to the hospital.  
  
But the feeling just got worse and worse. His teacher and his parents started to get concerned. Blaine would break down in tears in the middle of class, or wake up late at night sobbing and shaking. He didn't know what was wrong and that _scared_ him. He just felt like a big part of him was… missing.  
  
His parents didn't know what was going on either. Even his older brother Cooper, who Blaine loved more than anyone, couldn't get him to cheer up. Though it was Cooper who eventually figured it out.  
  
"Do you think it's a soulmate thing?" Cooper asked one day.  
  
His parents looked at each other, they hadn't even considered that.  
  
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffling a little, he was having a rough morning and even the bowl of his favorite cereal sitting in front of him couldn’t cheer him up.  
  
"Maybe your soulmate is really sad and that's why you feel this way."  
  
"But he is so young. Usually you don't have that strong of a connection until your older," His mom said.  
  
"Yeah, but Blaine's special." Cooper smiled at this little brother. “And he gets to meet his soulmate young so maybe the stronger bond starts younger too?”  
  
"What are you talking about?” Blaine asked confused, “My soulmate is sad? What's wrong with my soulmate!" Blaine didn’t like that idea at all and started crying all over again.  
  
His parents tried to explain things to him, if his soulmate was experiencing really strong sadness then Blaine would feel some of that too. They worked hard to cheer him up and Cooper even laid in bed with him each night to tell him stories to help him fall asleep. Eventually the grief started to slowly fade, Blaine's natural happiness couldn't stay down for long.  
  
The experience made a difference in Blaine though, he became a little more serious a little more in tune with the emotions of those around him. It taught him a great deal of empathy at a very young age. And still there were times he would catch a certain a scent or hear a piratical song and that old unexplained sorrow would come back.   
  
"I just want to take care of him," He explained to his mom one day. "The way you take care of me. And Cooper helps me sometimes. I think my soulmate needs someone like that."  
  
"Oh B," His mom had sighed "You’ll be able to do that, just give it time."  
  
Blaine hated waiting.

* * *

The second time Blaine was very aware of his soulmate was years later. Blaine was barely fifteen and at a new school. A dance was coming up and Blaine wanted to go, but he was too afraid to ask anyone.  
  
He was out and proud of who he was. He was never actually in the closet seeing as he’d been talking about his male soulmate since he was young. However, things had become really hard when he entered middle school. He was called names he’d never even heard before.  
  
One day after school he came home and asked his mother what a word meant. She’d gasped and told him never to say that again, “It is a hateful thing people call… call people like you. Don’t listen to them.”  
  
“I don’t know why people are so against me having a boy as a soulmate,” he said angrily, “What difference does it make to them!”  
  
He tried to not let it bother him. He was in love with a boy he hadn't even met yet and the world couldn't do a thing about it.   
  
That night he laid in bed and talked to his timer again, he was long past thinking his soulmate could actually hear he, it was just comforting. “I’m going to ask someone to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Show people I don’t care what they say about me. He and I will just go as friends though. Don’t worry.”  
  
So when the Sadie Hawkin's dance came around he asked James, a friend to go with him, just for fun. They were both gay and faithfully waiting for their soulmates, but it would be nice to go to a dance and be able to do all the things other kids his age were doing.  
  
It didn’t turn out well.  
  
While they were waiting in the parking lot for Cooper to pick them up after the dance a bunch of older students came out and started jeering and laughing at them. They had obviously been drinking and things quickly turned violent.  
  
Blaine was terrified as the guys started to get physical, knocking him to the ground and kicking him in the stomach, kneeling down to grab his collar and punch his face.  
  
Blaine tried to see James desperate to help him, but he couldn't do anything but curl up and try to protect himself from the onslaught of kicks and punches. Pain and fear ricocheting through his body. It was hard to breath and he couldn’t see well with warm blood in his face and each blow made something inside him feel like it snapped.  
  
“Help me!” He cried, but no one was around to hear. “Help me,” his blurry eyes landed on his timer. “ _Help_ …”  
  
It wasn’t long after that that Blaine blacked out.  
  
He had spotty memories between the parking lot and waking up in the hospital, voices shouting, someone crying, a siren maybe? Mostly it was just pain, lights popping behind his eyes, body aching. Though one thing stood out, he could  _swear_  he heard someone talking to him, almost yelling at him to not leave. To stay.  
  
So he stayed. Somehow.  
  
It turned out that Copper had arrived to pick Blaine and James up and had seen the tail end of the attack. he'd barreled out of his car shouting and the attackers ran off. James was mostly okay, some bruises and cuts, it seemed that Blaine had gotten the brunt of the assault.  
  
Coop called 911, and they got there just in time. Blaine had stopped breathing, he didn't have a pulse. Cooper had been frantic when the EMTs arrived, they had to use a defibrillator to get Blaine's heart going. It stopped and started and stopped and started before finally continuing with a regular beat.  
  
Cooper told Blaine he was pretty much dead for a few moments there, Coop anxiously laughed it off, joking about how Blaine must have stayed away from the "bright light at the end of the tunnel", but Blaine could tell it had really shaken him. Cooper’s skin was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes.  
  
"We almost lost you," His mom said brushing his curly hair away from his forehead as he laid in the hospital bed.  
  
"Someone wouldn't let me go," Blaine answered his voice a little scratchy. "Actually..." He looked at his parents and Cooper gauging their reactions, "I think I heard him, my soulmate, talking to me. I think he saved me."  
  
“Son it doesn’t work that way.”  
  
“But he told me to stay with him and… he saved me.”  
  
His father didn’t reply and his mom just smiled softly at him. They didn’t believe him, but Cooper grinned, "Remind me to thank him when we meet then."  
  
Even weeks after the attack Blaine had a hard time falling asleep, he had headaches and pains that would keep him up at night. He would slip into that space between awake and asleep and almost feel like he could hear someone with the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard singing to him, only then would sleep would finally come.

* * *

The last time Blaine really, really felt his soulmate before they met was when his timer said that they had around a year before they found each other.  
  
In the middle of class at Dalton, the new zero tolerance private school his parents insisted on. He was following along in class when he was suddenly struck with inexplicable fear, like a sharp knife though his chest, and quickly went into a panic attack. Chest tight, breathing difficult. His friend Wes helped him out into the hall and stayed with him until he was aware enough to be lead to the nurse’s office.  
  
"Sadie Hawkins?" Wes asked, mouth tense as his eyes roamed Blaine's face checking to make sure he was okay. Blaine still had nightmares about the Sadie's Hawkins dance and Wes knew he'd struggled with panic attacks since then. They had gotten so much better recently though.  
  
"N-no," Blaine answered with a shutter, "It's him."  
  
"Who?" Wes asked a little angrily, "Did someone do something?"  
  
"What? No." Blaine shook his head, "something is wrong with my _soulmate_." Blaine breathed deeply and tried not to cry. Whatever was going on with his soulmate was bad, it was almost as bad as the heartbreak Blaine had experienced through him when he was seven. Blaine knew he had to calm down though, if he could feel his soulmate's emotions then the opposite was probably true as well. Blaine wanted to send as much calm and love to his soulmate as he could.  
  
Wes frowned in concern, "He is hurt? Or in danger?"  
  
"I think he's scared. And angry, but mostly scared," Blaine groaned and held his head in his hands. "And there's nothing I can do to help him."  
  
"Maybe there is," Wes said and Blaine looked up in surprise. "You told me once you thought you heard you soulmate talking to you after The Dance right?"

Blaine nodded, Wes and Cooper were really the only ones who believed that possibility.  
  
"And sometimes when you can't sleep I hear you singing at night, and... well, you're singing to him aren't you?"  
  
Blaine blushed at being found out but nodded again.  
  
"Either you have a very vivid imagination,” Wes smiled teasingly, “ _or_ a really strong connection with your soulmate. If it is the latter maybe he can feel you too?"  
  
"I was just thinking that," Blaine admitted. "I was trying to get myself calm for his sake."  
  
Wes smiled, "Well, maybe you could do even more than that for him."  
  
Just then the nurse came in to check on Blaine and declare him alright. She sent Wes back to his classes and gave Blaine the rest of the afternoon off.   
  
Blaine spent it in his room sending warm feeling and thoughts to his soulmate. He held a pillow tightly in his arms and started to speak. He hadn't really spoken out loud to his soulmate since Sadie Hawkins.  
  
"I don't know if you can feel me or hear me," Blaine said, "But this is for you." He began to sing.   
  
_"When you're all alone. Far away from home. There's a gift the angels send when you're alone... At night when I'm alone I lie awake and wonder. Which of them belongs to me, which one I wonder?... Isn't that a wonder? When you're alone, you're not alone, not really alone."  
  
_ Blaine kept singing to his soulmate every night and sometimes during the day when his soulmate seemed really sad or scared. This lasted for over a week and Blaine thought his heart would break in two with longing to comfort his soulmate's sorrow, until one day Blaine was in study hall and he suddenly he burst out in a joyful laugh.  
  
The librarian hushed him and his friends looked at him like he was going crazy.  
  
" _Blaine_ ," Nick hissed, "Are you okay, what the heck man?"  
  
Blaine sighed as he stopped laughing wiping happy tears from his eyes, "he's okay," Blaine answered.  
  
Nick just looked confused.  
  
"Never mind. Sorry," Blaine said and pretended to go back to studying. He couldn't focus on anything though, the relief his soulmate was feeling was flooding through him, mixed with Blaine's own relief  _for_  his soulmate. It was a warmness Blaine felt all the way to his fingertips. After that Blaine was on cloud nine for weeks.  
  
Blaine knew that what he had with his soulmate was special. They had a connection stronger than most, a connection people didn't really seem to understand. But most importantly, they were going to meet _soon_.

Nearly a year later Blaine was back at Dalton, he was the lead singer of the Warblers this year and was so proud and honored to be chosen for the position. Today however, the Warblers were causing him no little amount of anxiety.  
  
Wes and David had planned an "impromptu" performance and had informed Blaine of it that morning. "This afternoon. 4:00pm!" They had said excitedly. Of course Blaine was singing lead so his presence was mandatory. The problem with that was 4:00pm this afternoon would be mere minutes after his met his soulmate.  
  
Blaine could hardly breathe or think straight, he nerves getting the better of him, how did they expect him to sing?

Still as the time got nearer Blaine headed down with everyone else in the school. All of the boys were excited, rushing past Blaine and clapping him on the back, knowing he was about to sing.  
  
Blaine was jumpy, his nerves all over the place. He felt warm and scared and excited and oh so happy. And maybe a little sick with all butterflies in his stomach.  
  
He quickly rushed down the spiral staircase, not even really thinking, just moving with the crowd. He stopped at the bottom and bit his lip as he looked down at his timer. He had seconds left, he looked around trying to find a new face in the sea of boys. It couldn’t be any of his schoolmates that he’d already met. So where was he?  
  
Then he felt someone tap his shoulder.  
  
A sweet melodic voice spoke up behind him, "Excuse me can I ask you a question? I'm new here."  
  
Blaine's eyes fluttered closed as all his nerves dissipated.   
  
It was him.   
  
All Blaine felt was peace and happiness as he turned around and looked up into the blue eyes of the most gorgeous boy he'd ever seen. They both stood dumbstruck for a moment. Blaine could hardly breathe and then he found himself speaking without even thinking about it, _"My name is Blaine_ ," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he held out his hand.

 _Kurt_ ," his soulmate answered with a smile that made Blaine want to melt.   
  
They took each other’s hands, Blaine’s knees felt a little wobbly, and had to hold himself back from leaning forward and kissing his soulmate, _Kurt_ , then and there. Blaine smiled widely, and could only think _finally_ , as their timers went off in unison.

 


	6. Extra: My Missing Puzzle Piece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out all chapters are actually little extras I did for this verse, they just happen to be in chronological order. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Blaine felt frozen, his soulmate’s hand in his own and his name, _Kurt_ , echoing in his mind and in his heart. Finally he swallowed and stepped up so his face was level with Kurt's.   
  
"It's you," He said, still holding on to his hand.

His soulmate laughed nervously and his cheeks flushed an adorable pink.  
  
"You're you," He answered and then shook his head, "That didn't even make sense. I mean... You're him. You're..."  
  
"I'm your soulmate," Blaine finished for him.  
  
Kurt's already round eyes grew a little larger and then a wide smile broke out over his face, showing his teeth and crinkling his eyes. Blaine knew it was a silly cliché, but he really did feel like his heart was doing somersaults.  
  
Kurt glanced down at their hands, as if he was just now noticing that they were still grasped. He let out a little breath and pulled his hand back.  
  
"I... I was..." He seemed flustered and Blaine wanted to help him, make him feel more at ease, but he was feeling equally flustered himself.  
  
"Where is everyone going?" Kurt finally asked.  
  
Blaine blinked and looked around, the other people around him slowly coming back to view again, they were still all moving towards the common rooms where the Warbler performance was going to happen.  
  
The Warbler performance! Blaine was supposed to be there.  
  
At first he was frustrated and thought about blowing the whole thing off, this wasn't the best timing, but he couldn't do that to his fellow Warblers. Besides, he looked back at Kurt's face, what better way to introduce himself to his soulmate than by singing to him?  
  
"The Warblers," Blaine answered, "Sometimes they throw impromptu performances. Everyone is going to watch them."  
  
Kurt lifted his eyebrows, "So the show choir is actually cool here?"  
  
Blaine beamed at him, "They are like rock stars." Blaine answered remembering how they had all taken him in last school year making him feel safe and at home after everything that had happened at his old school.  
  
"Come on," He said grabbing Kurt's hand again, "I know a short cut." He rushed down an empty hall that wasn't really a short cut, but was easier to get through than pushing past other Dalton students.  
  
He got to the common rooms just in time; the Warblers were lined up and ready to sing. He reluctantly let go of Kurt's hand, turned on the spot and started singing.  
  
 _"You think I'm pretty without any make-up on. You think I'm funny when I get the punch-line wrong."  
  
_ It wasn't really the song he would have picked to first serenade his soulmate, but Kurt didn't seem to mind. He watched with a look of awe on his beautiful face. Eyes sparkling and lips tipped in a permanent smile. He made Blaine feel whole and full and complete.   
  
After the song was over Blaine could hardly even remember performing, his fellow Warblers patted him on the back and onlookers told him how great he sounded, but he only had eyes for Kurt. The whole time he sang he had looked straight at Kurt, watching his blue eyes and shy smile.  
  
They ended up outside in the courtyard afterwards.   
  
“Hi,” Blaine said lamely as they sat close to each other on a bench.   
  
Kurt laughed and the sound made Blaine’s heart sore.   
  
“I’m finding it hard to put together a sentence,” Blaine admitted, “But here you are. I’ve been looking for you forever.”   
  
Kurt’s eyes got a little misty at that and he reached for Blaine’s hand, “The waiting was hard.”  
  
Blaine nodded at that hearing a story in Kurt’s voice.   
  
"You sing," Kurt said beaming at him. "I always hoped you did."  
  
Blaine nodded, "Does that mean you do too?"  
  
"I'm in the Glee club at McKinley... I'm actually here to spy on you."  
  
Blaine laughed at that, out of all the ways for him to met his soulmate this somehow seemed right.   
   
They didn't have a lot of time though. Kurt couldn't stay long; he needed to get home before his dad did. He’d skipped the last part of his school day to be here.   
  
“Your teammates won’t mind that I'm here? I am in a rival Glee club.”   
  
Blaine shook his head and scooted forward looking from Kurt’s clear eyes down to his pink lips, “They won’t mind.” He wanted to kiss Kurt so much.    
  
He saw Kurt shiver and then he scooted back a little, internally cursing himself, _too much too fast, slow down!_   
  
“Tell me about yourself,” Blaine asked taking Kurt's hand and rubbing his thumb over his palm.   
  
Kurt smiled shyly and then started to talk. Blaine learned that Kurt lived alone with his dad, his mom having passed away when he was only eight.  
  
"I felt that," Blaine said squeezing Kurt's hand, "I felt that when I was little. I was so sad and I just... I wanted to be with you so much."  
  
Kurt's eyes filled with tears and he bit his bottom lip to keep from crying, "I'm sorry you had to feel that."  
  
Blaine shook his head and scooted in closer to him, "I'm only sorry I couldn't be there. And then earlier this year... something else happened?"  
  
"My dad had a heart-attack," Kurt said solemnly, looking down at their hands.  
  
"Oh my god Kurt."  
  
"He was in a coma and I didn't know..."  
  
Blaine could feel a painful tug on his heart and didn't know if it was from him or from Kurt or both. He hated seeing him look so scared and sad and small.  
  
Kurt took a deep breath and looked back up at Blaine, smiling a little weakly, "He's okay now though. He got through it and so did I. I use to imagine you singing to me," Kurt said and used his free hand to smooth his already perfect hair nervously, "I know that's silly."  
  
"It's not silly," Blaine said earnestly, "I  _would_ sing to you, at night and sometimes during the day when I felt your emotions the strongest. I didn't know what was wrong, but I wanted to help you. I would sing and imagine you were in my arms," Blaine stopped and blushed, that was a little more than he had meant to admit.  
  
Kurt's cheeks and the tips of his ears flushed pink, ”Thank you.”   
  
"You saved me you know," Blaine said frankly, "You saved my life, I know you did. Singing to you was the least I could do."  
  
Kurt's face turned a shade paler and he squeezed Blaine's hand, "What do you mean?" he whispered.  
  
"Last year..." Blaine began, his heart fluttering too fast in his chest just thinking about what had happened at his old school. "There was this Sadie Hawkins dance and I asked a friend to go with me. He was the only other out boy I knew. I thought we could go as friends, that it wouldn't be a big deal." Blaine sighed and closed his eyes, the memories of that night still all too fresh.  
  
"Afterwards we were in the parking lot waiting for our ride when these guys came and... they beat the crap out of us," Blaine finished lamely not wanting to go into more detail.  
  
He opened his eyes and saw that Kurt had nudged even closer to him, his face only inches from Blaine's.  
  
"You almost died," Kurt said breathlessly, it was a statement not a question.  
  
"Yeah... My heart stopped, apparently," Blaine said and watched Kurt's worried face. "And I know that I heard someone telling me not to go, to stay, someone who made me want to keep fighting," Blaine glanced down to Kurt's lips so close to his own, but didn’t make a move this time, he looked back up. "I always thought it must have been my soulmate. That is must have been... you." He said in a hushed voice looking into Kurt's crystal blue eyes that were a little damp with unshed tears.  
  
"You saved me," Blaine repeated.  
  
Kurt blinked once and then surged forward. Suddenly his lips were on Blaine's. Blaine was stunned still for just a moment as Kurt kissed him. Then he lifted his hands, cupping Kurt's face and drawing him even closer. His gasped at the intensity of it all, kissing Kurt felt like nothing he’d ever experienced in his life.

Kurt moaned a little and Blaine felt his hands on his waist, grasping at his blazer and pulling his body in closer. Blaine tilted his head to deepen their kiss and kept Kurt's face in his hands, even as Kurt's body flattened itself against him, still tugging on his Dalton blazer.  
  
Blaine moved his lips and tongue against Kurt's relishing the feel and taste and closeness of his soulmate.  
  
When they finally broke away for breath they stayed close, staring into each other's eyes and panting to catch their breath.  
  
"Wow," Blaine said and Kurt laughed and leaned his forehead against Blaine's.  
  
"Yeah. Wow," Kurt said, "Best. First. Kiss. Ever.  
  
Blaine moved his hands down to loop around Kurt's back, while Kurt still held on to his waist. Suddenly Kurt backed up a little and looked at Blaine seriously.  
  
"That was your first kiss, right?"  
  
"Of course," Blaine said, "You get all of my first."  
  
Kurt smiled and blushed and turned away a little.  
  
They sat quietly for a moment before Blaine spoke again. He really wanted to just keep kissing Kurt, but he knew there was something they needed to talk about.  
  
"So what really brought you to Dalton today?"  
  
Kurt looked up at him in surprise at the sudden subject change. He then looked away and was instantly fighting back tears.  
  
"Things at your school... they aren't great are they?" Blaine didn’t know how he knew that, but he felt it.   
  
"I'm the only out person there. And the other students are..."  
  
"You get bullied?" Blaine supplied.  
  
"No one even seems to notice. Not my teachers. Not even my friends."  
  
Blaine nodded his chest feeling tight and heavy. "I get that. At my old school I went to the leadership, but they were pretty much like, 'Well, you're gay; life is just going to be hard.' And then when it got hard... I ran Kurt."  
  
"They almost  _killed_ you," Kurt said his eyes flashing with anger.  
  
Blaine shrugged, "Sometimes I still wish..." He sighed and shook his head, "I would love to tell you to come here, but I now that Dalton's tuition isn't for anyone. But you don't have to be a victim; you can stand up for yourself. Talk to your friends. I wish I had."  
  
Kurt looked conflicted for a moment and then planted a light peck on Blaine's lips, making him shiver pleasantly, "I'm just glad you're safe."  
  
Blaine smiled and reached for Kurt's hand again, he lifted it up and smoothed his thumb over Kurt's now blank timer before lifting it to his lips and kissing it, and then Kurt's wrist. He could feel Kurt's pulse pounding beneath his skin.  
  
"Now that we've found each other. Everything is going to be okay," Blaine said.  
  
Kurt couldn't stay much longer. They parted with a long hug and another little kiss before Kurt left with the promise to call him later that evening.  
  
Blaine watched from the parking lot until he could no longer see Kurt's Escalade in the distance. Then he spun around and did a little jump in the air.  
  
He had finally met his soulmate and Kurt was the most perfect person in the entire world. Blaine practically skipped back to the dorm rooms. Now that he had found Kurt he just had to make sure that he was always safe, and loved, and taken care of.


End file.
